#jais_2011_12

Contents of Volume 12, Issue 12 (December) Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS)  Official Publication of the Association for Information Systems Published: Monthly Electronically ISSN: 1536-9323 Published by the Association for Information Systems, Atlanta, USA http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/ Editor-in-Chief: Professor Shirley Gregor, the Australian National University, Australia PAPER ONE Validity Issues in the Use of Social Network Analysis with Digital Trace Data By James Howison, Andrea Wiggins, and Kevin Crowston

Abstract

There is an exciting natural match between social network analysis methods and the growth of data sources produced by social interactions via information technologies, from online communities to corporate information systems. Information Systems researchers have not been slow to embrace this combination of method and data. Such systems increasingly provide "digital trace data" that provide new research opportunities. Yet digital trace data are substantively different from the survey and interview data for which network analysis measures and interpretations were originally developed. This paper examines 10 validity issues associated with the combination of digital trace data and social network analysis methods, with examples from the IS literature, to provide recommendations for improving the validity of future research.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below: http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol12/iss12/2/

PAPER TWO Information Privacy Concerns: Linking Individual Perceptions with Institutional Privacy Assurances By Heng Xu, Tamara Dinev, Jeff Smith, and Paul Hart

Abstract

Organizational information practices can result in a variety of privacy problems that can increase consumers' concerns for information privacy. To explore the link between individuals and organizations regarding privacy, we study how institutional privacy assurances such as privacy policies and industry self-regulation can contribute to reducing individual privacy concerns. Drawing on Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, we develop a research model suggesting that an individual's privacy concerns form through a cognitive process involving perceived privacy risk, privacy control, and his or her disposition to value privacy. Furthermore, individuals' perceptions of institutional privacy assurances -- namely, perceived effectiveness of privacy policies and perceived effectiveness of industry privacy self-regulation -- are posited to affect the risk-control assessment from information disclosure, thus, being an essential component of privacy concerns. We empirically tested the research model through a survey that was administered to 823 users of four different types of websites: 1) electronic commerce sites, 2) social networking sites, 3) financial sites, and 4) healthcare sites. The results provide support for the majority of the hypothesized relationships. The study reported here is novel to the extent that existing empirical research has not explored the link between individuals' privacy perceptions and institutional privacy assurances. We discuss implications for theory and practice and provide suggestions for future research.